meanwhile, both sides are gearing up for next week's big event. wednesday's first presidential debate between the two contenders. both sides are working hard to shape expectations. beth myers sent out a memo that read in part . . . and obama campaign senior strategy david axelrod wrote, and i quote . . . for more on the expectations gain i'm joined by brent brent coburn. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> eliot: the expectation game, could we agree for the moment they are both really smart guys and we're hopefully going to have a good debate about substance. >> that's our hope. the debates a great opportunity for the american people tune in and the candidates tell their stories. that's what we plan to do. we hope the romney campaign comes prepared to do the same thing. beside his technical -- technical skills as a debater, we hope he finally comes to the table with some details. >> eliot: i think the american public and my perspective in all of this is no mystery, i share that there has been no specificity, the week there was suppo